October 2013 - June 2016

The Durham Emergence Project

Grant ID

40485

Project Leader(s)

Robin Hendry,Tom McLeish

Grantee(s)

Durham University

Grant Amount

$2,114,705

Funding area

Philosophy and Theology

Department

Philosophy and Theology

Emergence, or dependent novelty, is once again a major focus of interest in science and philosophy. In weak emergence, the novelty concerns knowledge, or description of the world: emergence is unpredictability, or the applicability of new concepts. The existence of weak emergence is uncontroversial. Strong emergence is novelty in the world itself: new properties or objects, new laws or causal powers. Strong emergence is controversial. Some philosophers and physicists are sceptical because they think the world is ultimately physical, governed only by physical laws. Others question whether, in fact, science tells us this. Through interdisciplinary research, workshops and conferences, we hope this project will bring together recent work from across philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, and physics to assess the evidence for and against strong emergence. Through a research funding competition and summer schools, it could provide early-career philosophers and physicists with opportunities to contribute to the debate. Through a website and other electronic media, our hope is to bring scientific and philosophical thinking on emergence to the wider public.